Wisdom, Justice, and Love
by Blackhawk1997
Summary: It's been a month since the Battle for Western Civilization has begun and Percy has to make a choice, honor the dead, and save the living, or stay with the living and die with the dead. T for some moderate cursing. One-Shot


Wisdom, Justice, and Love

By: Dallas Dituri

_December 7, 2012_

"The war in Greece has just begun, and already the tragedy has claimed many lives, but we must forge onward, no matter the pain in our hearts, how much we want to sit down and cry and mourn, we cannot. If we do, Western Civilization will be destroyed, and all the work mankind and godkind have wrought into the soil in which we stand every day, gone. I recently have lost the most important person in my life, because she saved me from a stray javelin. The only way I see fit to honor her is to beat these sons of bitches into submission, and that's exactly what I plan to do. But before I go, there is a message I need to convey, and it's one that can only be done through words.

_"__I come to this magnificent house of worship tonight because my conscience leaves me no other choice... A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, 'This way of settling differences is not just.' This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love...__(1)_

"So my friends, let us carry on, remember the past, look towards the future, but always think in the present, for you never know when it can just slip away before your very eyes.

"This is Percy Jackson, and I'm signing off, good night, people of Earth, and shall we live to see a world with more birthdays."

I silently put down the microphone and listened to the cries of battle, the same ones I have been for a month. We have almost no forces left, maybe about a hundred in anything remotely considered 'fighting' condition. We received forces from every defeated army in history, and a bunch of clear-sighted mortals flocked to us to help, but even with their help, we cannot last much longer, if we don't end this war soon.

I donned my battle gear. I prefer a light metal called _Butonian_, which I had Tyson design and make. It was a blue-grey metal, almost the color if Annabeth's and Thalia's eyes were combined to make a single color. I prefer my armor to be simple, similar to a medieval pikeman's, which is a breast plate and plated leggings, with combat boots, and no helm. A traditional pikeman would have one, but I don't particularly fancy them. The _Butonian_ also omits a faint blue glow, which betrays the presence of magic.

After that, I pulled out _Riptide_ and walked out of my tent. I pushed the glow button on my watch, and my Grecian shield spiraled out from it. I then headed over to the command tent to speak tactics.

When I arrived, I found Malcom, Thalia, Travis, Katie, Jason, Reyna, Ares, Zeus, and Athena. I struggled to look at Athena, she just looked so much like Annabeth, and the thought pained me.

"Nice speech Jackson, but let's get to business. Alcyoneus has his troops at our front door; we won't last long unless we come up with something good. Even Athena here can't find a solution to get us out of this mess." Thalia stated this rapidly. Every since Annabeth… died, she's been calling me Jackson. It's almost as if she blames me for her death.

They all looked at me expectantly, save the gods, but I had zilch, unless you count my idiotic 'heroic' ideas as winning ideas. Gods I wish Annabeth was here, we could go with one of my plans and she would save my ass, which would save everybody in the end, that's how it always went, and how it should always be, but life isn't fair, or as Thalia would say, 'Life's a bitch, because if it were a slut, it'd be easy'. If this were a different time, different situation, I would have laughed, but I hardly find reason to laugh anymore.

I supposed I had to go with one of my plans, and that was to use up the magic with my armor, a deadly magic, that in the end, brought consequences as serious as the gains. I explained to them, and they all looked at me with pained expressions. 

There was a lot of "No!" and "Why?" and "You can't!" But the thing they didn't understand was that I had to. So I just left and walked towards the gate. I looked around at the once beautiful city, which is now filled with wounded and dead. I stopped by some of my friends that were lying in their beds and talked aimlessly, but was really saying my goodbyes. I didn't want to leave forever without my friends, family, and comrades thinking I didn't care. I was finished speaking with Alyssa, a 12 year old daughter of Athena, who was stabbed in the thigh, when I heard running behind me.

I excused myself from Alyssa and walked out of the tent, only to find Thalia panting vigorously, as if she was recently sprinting.

"You can't just leave Percy! We all need you! You're the reason we're all still alive! Please don't do this, please…" Thalia pleaded with all the heart she could muster. I understood where she was coming from, but I also had something to say.

"And I'm going to be the reason you stay alive. If one life can win a war, and save the lives of billions, why not take the sacrifice? Answer that." Thalia answered after a bit of thought.

"Because we love you Kelp Head, that's why, we can't lose you too."

"Can't you see I'm doing this because of love? I'm doing it for the ones I love, which is everybody in this army, and all those who have died for it. I'm doing this, like it or not." And at that, I gave Thalia a big hug, which lasted for about a minute, and then kissed her on the cheek. "You have to take care of the demigods; you'll be the last demigod of the 'Big Three'. **(The 'Big Three' Pact ended, so they are no longer considered the 'Big Three')** Remember this. Take care of Artemis and the rest of the gods. They'll be shaken up like the rest of the world, but we cannot afford to lose our grip. Please do this, for me, for Annabeth… For Luke." And the mention of Annabeth, Thalia lowered her head, but at Luke's name, she raised her head, tears glistening in her eyes as she hugged me tightly.

"I will, just please, wait until tomorrow, I need one more night before this happens, please." She practically begged me. I reluctantly agreed, and we headed for my tent, were we took off our gear and got some tea. We sat down on the bed, just sipping our tea, leaning on each other for support, comfortable with each other's presence. After we finished our tea, I placed them in a wash bucket and watched Thalia crawl into bed.

I didn't feel like washing the cups because this would be my last night, so I crawled in after Thalia and held on to her tightly, which she replied in kind. I then soon fell into a deep, dreamless, peaceful sleep.

I awoke to a slight snuffling beside me, and opened my eyes to see Thalia's face in front of my own. 

"Morning Thals"

"Morning Perce"

We laid there for about a half an hour before I crawled out of bed, which made Thalia groan. She just laid there, watching me don my _Butonian_ armor, then got up and donned her Hunter's battle outfit, which was her normal attire, just with thin, malleable _Celestial Bronze_ woven into it with spells from Hecate to protect against attacks, but not prevent them.

We both walked out in silence, holding hands and headed for the gate. There were no longer cries of battle, but there would be soon as dawn has just broke the sky in a beautiful sunrise. 

It's ironic that the day you die will be a beautiful day. Perhaps the world was foreshadowing what was to come, the joyous part of my sacrifice. I was glad that it was quiet before I went on with my plan; it gave me time to think. The only person holding me back was Thalia; she had become my best friend, greatest ally, and sister by all rights. I only wanted what was best for her, so I knew I must continue, it just hurt that I knew I would never see her again.

I stopped her by the gate and turned her small frame towards me gently. She looks up as me as I kissed her forehead, and I grinned slightly, trying to get her to smile. When she didn't I wiggled my eyebrows, which got her giggling slightly, which was exactly what I wanted to hear. I looked inside her eyes, and we had a silent conversation, no word's necessary. I understood her pain, and kissed her on her forehead again.

"Time will go on, Thalia. It'll be alright in the end, just never forget this day, and life shall never fail you. I must do this, for you, for Annabeth, for everybody dead and alive. You must honor the dead, and fight like hell for the living, my mother once told me, and that's exactly what I plan to do today. Understand this, please"

"I do understand, that's what makes it harder. Go, while I still let you. Do what you must, and in the end, when I die, I'll visit Annabeth and tell her about this, about the little details the rumors don't hold. Go on; just know that we all love you dearly."

I kissed her forehead one last time and walked through the gates, without looking back. With my head raised high and _Riptide_ in my hand, I climbed to the cliff, where I could see the entire field of encampments that Aclyoneus' troops set up. I took a deep breath and cried out mournfully before chanting out a spell in the most ancient of languages, one forgotten by all but those in possession of my armor's metal, _Butonian_.

"_Anklu vos tunli de, ke chiler von saer kon toureh vot." _Was just one line of thirty I had to chant. My army slowly gathered in ranks behind me, staring at me in wonder of what I was doing. At last when I was done, A great dragon flew from theskies. It was the Forgotten One, who was older than Gaea herself, and only known to me.

As he flew down, my soul got sucked into the body of the dragon, and I became one with the Forgotten One, the most ancient being next to Chaos. I rained fire down upon the enemies, and destroyed their every rank, and burned up the Giants and demons alike, without the help of a god, because I was a god, as well as a demigod. When the field was tarnished, I took flight and flew straight into the heavens, the place where only faded immortal beings that deserve more than Elysium go. There I met with Pan and watched down among Earth for the rest of eternity, waiting for my next caller, my next turn to come down to Earth and wreak my joyous havoc for the children of the gods. 

_August 18, 2018_

Chaos, the first being, approached me one day as I was looking down upon Thalia, making sure my cousin was alright.

"I understand this place does not make you happy, Perseus." This shocked me, this is the first time he hasn't called me _Bartonis_. "So I'm here to make you and offer. I can disconnect you from your host, and send you to Elysium to be with your family, do you object? But you cannot rebirth. The other option is just to stay here, a place better than the Isles of the Blest, which if you hadn't of called upon me, made. Your soul was first Hercules', then the first Perseus', and now yours. Choose wisely, for the choice is all yours."

I thought about it for a few minutes, and then came to a conclusion. "Yes, send me there, I wish to see my family again."

Chaos chuckled lightly and said, "You were always one for Wisdom, Justice, and Love, although, your love burns brighter than any being ever before to inhabit this planet." And with that, he snapped his fingers, and I felt as if I were falling through the abyss.

I woke up in somewhere I felt happy. I was in a soft bed, in a cabin that looks very similar to the Poseidon's back at Camp Half-Blood. Somebody walked in, and I saw it was a beautiful woman, with blonde curls that were pulled up in a pony tail, with a faded orange shirt on with jeans. The most noticeable feature were the stormy gray eyes, that were filled with love as we gazed each other. 

"Annabeth" was all I said as I got up out of bed and kissed her passionately, trying to bring her closer as my lips moved in sync with hers. And with that, I knew my life was fulfilled, I was where I always wanted to be, and always will.

1 Said by Martin Luther King Jr.

Hope you enjoyed the story, if anyone wants to base anything off of this short one-shot, please let me know and I'd enjoy reading it.

Signing off,

Dallas Dituri 


End file.
